China Open

NastyNate13

NastyNate13

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Happy for Ko to win this event.

If my memory serves me correct, Shaw has been Ko’s kryptonite the last couple big tournaments (if AtLarge can do some digging on their past matches that would be sweet) and watching them both play is a delight.

Ko exudes this cool, calm demeanor every time he steps to the table. He has has one of the prettiest strokes I have ever seen. No matter what the situation it seems like he keeps it together.
 
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garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Good match but jeez, Shaw just wears me out with the rack whining. Seems like everytime i see this guy play he's b^*@#ing about the rack in some way. If there were gaps than i'm sure that both players had to fade it. Don't get switching out the balls. Are Cyclop THAT bad? Out-of-round?? Skidding is one thing but lopsided? That's a new one. BTW, stream was first rate. I love the no-commentary deal. Just the sound of the balls. Great. Ooops, one last thing: other than the finals did anyone go to this? Ticket prices high or what? Crowds were tiny at most matches.
 
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jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Damn, the world's greatest player went two and out!
And two bums made it into the finals. :smile:
 
Nostroke

Nostroke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
Damn, the world's greatest player went two and out!
And two bums made it into the finals. :smile:
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#2, 3 and 4 in Fargo made it to the final 4. Except for one glaring and aggravating exception, they got it perfect.

PS- Those tables were terrible-Not even fit for a broken down pool room on the third floor in some slum!
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Nostroke said:
#2, 3 and 4 in Fargo made it to the final 4. Except for one glaring and aggravating exception, they got it perfect.

PS- Those tables were terrible-Not even fit for a broken down pool room on the third floor in some slum!
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I've always said that pool players will play on the floor if you put up enough money! :D
 
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garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Nostroke said:
#2, 3 and 4 in Fargo made it to the final 4. Except for one glaring and aggravating exception, they got it perfect.

PS- Those tables were terrible-Not even fit for a broken down pool room on the third floor in some slum!
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Just curious here. I watched some qualifying and about 4-5 tournament matches. What did you see that gave the impression that these tables were so bad? Not trying to start a flame-out but i didn't see any glaring table problems. A lot of events are played on STAR's and generally are well liked.
 
Nostroke

Nostroke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
garczar said:
Just curious here. I watched some qualifying and about 4-5 tournament matches. What did you see that gave the impression that these tables were so bad? Not trying to start a flame-out but i didn't see any glaring table problems. A lot of events are played on STAR's and generally are well liked.
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Pockets too huge, many roll-offs and weird inconsistent reactions off the rails to my eye. Plus they just looked like they are poorly made and not real solid. I suppose they could be solid and just look flimsy.

Didn't they change ball sets 2x during a match-meaning they tried 3 different ball sets during one match? That may or may not have been a misguided effort to correct abnormalities of the table but in ANY EVENT, it indicates that having top-shelf equipment was not a priority at the tournament start.
 
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Oze147

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Nostroke said:
Didn't they change ball sets 2x during a match-meaning they tried 3 different ball sets during one match? That may or may not have been a misguided effort to correct abnormalities of the table but in ANY EVENT, it indicates that having top-shelf equipment was not a priority at the tournament start.
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This might be a bit of a stereotype, but I have the feeling that the racking incident in the final was the result of Asian politeness and pursuit of perfection colliding with a Scot, who had the fear, that he might not be the best player on the table today.

With other words: Just imagine what Michaela Tabb would have told Shaw, if he had asked her to rerack a third time :D
 
Nostroke

Nostroke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Oze147 said:
This might be a bit of a stereotype, but I have the feeling that the racking incident in the final was the result of Asian politeness and pursuit of perfection colliding with a Scot, who had the fear, that he might not be the best player on the table today.

With other words: Just imagine what Michaela Tabb would have told Shaw, if he had asked her to rerack a third time :D
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I don't believe they would have gone through all that if they could point to a solid rack. 'Politeness' hasn't prevented a 'take it or leave it' attitude from Asian refs in the past-especially noted at the women's Amway cup years back, year after year either. If Michaela somehow put up 2 racks in a row with gaps the players could point to, she'd do a third imho.
 
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smashmouth

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Shaw has a mental barrier to his game that he struggles with imo

if he can conquer that watch out world

side note, alternate beaks continue to blow and most certainly hurt guys like Shaw, rack templates completely suck too
 
spartan

spartan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ko broke better, better mental game/composure without letting the racking "controversy" get to him, made tough shots under pressure when it mattered. I am sure that new hair did help too. :smile:

Vids (some incomplete)
Final
Jayson Shaw v Ko Pin Yi
https://www.facebook.com/phuclongpo...8714184115922/236017893932830/?type=2&theater
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI681wG5jAk

Semifinal
Jayson Shaw v Dang Jinhu
https://www.facebook.com/phuclongpo...714184115922/2126706097580318/?type=2&theater

Semifinal
Ko Pin Yi v Wu Jiaqing
https://www.facebook.com/phuclongpo...8714184115922/306683413471509/?type=2&theater

:D
 
Nostroke

Nostroke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
smashmouth said:
Shaw has a mental barrier to his game that he struggles with imo

if he can conquer that watch out world

side note, alternate beaks continue to blow and most certainly hurt guys like Shaw, rack templates completely suck too
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Agree 100% on line one-That way from the start.

As far as the Templates-just change the damn thing. They cant cost more than a dollar a piece for any decent sized organizer. They are not solidly built by design and should be considered disposable imo.

I saw an event here in the USA where they struggled to rack game after game to the point it was the main topic of the commentary. The thing was when they put it on the table, even through the stream, you could see one side of the template lifting off the table and the whole thing was lumpy and twisted. People in the chat were knocking the particular Mfr of the rack.

After torturing the audience and ruining the reputation of that brand template, they finally gave in and brought in a new one -It laid flat and nice racks resumed. Why it wasn't an obvious solution still has me wondering. It was no rinky dink event either.
 
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garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
As far as the racking went, doesn't China have like a trillion people? Shouldn't be too hard to find/train a handful of rackers for this event. Throw 'em up there and tell the players to get-it-on. "We rack, you play you whiny,spoiled money-hungry pool artists"- Official statement from "Da Party". ;)
 
BRussell

BRussell

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
garczar said:
As far as the racking went, doesn't China have like a trillion people? Shouldn't be too hard to find/train a handful of rackers for this event. Throw 'em up there and tell the players to get-it-on. "We rack, you play you whiny,spoiled money-hungry pool artists"- Official statement from "Da Party". ;)
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Finding someone to rack wasn’t the problem, it was that get-it-on part. Shaw just wasn’t satisfied unless it was perfect. The director needed to step in and say no more re-racks. Either let players rack for themselves or not allow re-racks. That was ridiculous.
 
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AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
For the Ko/Wu Semifinal and Ko/Shaw Final matches combined:

Made at least one ball on the break and did not foul -- 36 of 37

Successful breaks -- 34 of 37 (two breaks were illegal)

Breaker won game -- 28 of 37

Break-and-run games -- 18 of 37
 
Nostroke

Nostroke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
garczar said:
As far as the racking went, doesn't China have like a trillion people? Shouldn't be too hard to find/train a handful of rackers for this event. Throw 'em up there and tell the players to get-it-on. "We rack, you play you whiny,spoiled money-hungry pool artists"- Official statement from "Da Party". ;)
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I take exception to the "money-hungry" part. These guys wouldn't be in pool if that was a primary trait. 98% of them are paupers and even if they become #1, they will still make less than 1/10th the bucks the top 20 guys at every decent Wall St firm make.

There are only 4 guys on the money list who make more than the average salaried slob in the USA and if you consider expenses there is probably only one-barely. I'm not here to shout this is so unfair etc-just to point out that most pros are hoping to just eek out a living doing something they love and being money hungry plays no part. Once they are in the pro game, they are desperate for money is perhaps a fair statement.
 
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